Electronic Retailer - June 2011 - 62

RICK PETRY

Is the Infomercial Media Fracas Good for Business?
There was a time not so long ago when the concept of an agency of record meant something. In simple terms, the sellers of infomercial airtime – a broadcaster, local station or rep firm – insisted upon having one agency that represented each paid program. They valued their relationships with agency partners and did not want to get caught in between those competing for a marketer’s business and the coveted inventory. They also protected the marketer from running in time periods back-toback. There were exceptions – some media reps would turn a blind eye to brokering and allow the free trading of their half-hours, known as avails. This development was always mystifying because inventories and drives up rates that ultimately increase their revenues. Conversely, why would a marketer perpetuate the situation? This is where it gets a bit more complicated. First, with roughly a billion dollars of domestic long-form airtime, there simply aren’t enough good half-hour slots to go around. Think about it: If one successful show can spend a cool million each week, which is not unheard of, that one show could mop up 5 percent of all available inventories. In many exchanges, that would be considered cornering the market. So the marketer attempts to diversify its ability to get desirable media by employing multiple agencies. But there is another underlying reason for this tactic: Trust, and the value marketers place on their agencies, has eroded along with the ability to attribute results to time periods. Though it’s understood DRTV drives sales through all channels, the inability to pinpoint to what extent it drives these sales has caused the marketplace to degenerate into nothing more than a commodity driven by price. Maybe this is simply a sign of a maturing marketplace. Maybe it’s a shame. But the sellers of media who are catching rays in cabanas on the fringes of industry trade shows really ought to look inside their souls and acknowledge that the direct response industry is an interdependent ecosystem that needs both their inventories and their hearts invested. Sure, it’s about money. It always is. But veterans will tell you, this business has always been about something more. Together, marketers, sellers and their agencies can work together to carry on that tradition, or make it an argument that rings hollow; alas, one heard to no avail. Rick Petry is a freelance writer who specializes in direct marketing and is a past chairman of ERA. He can be reached at (503) 740-9065 or online at rickpetry.com. On Twitter at http:// twitter.com/thepetrydish.

Many sellers of airtime are now allowing a free-for-all where more than a dozen agencies compete for time slots on behalf of the same clients and paid programs.
it suggested that more money could be wrenched from the inventory, but those gains were being realized by resellers. In light of the incessant pressure to increase revenues, one could only attribute this to sheer laziness on the part of the rep who was permitting others to do his or her job. Not surprisingly, whispers of kickbacks echoed along Madison Avenue. Ironically, compared to today, those now seem like the good old days of mild avarice. Many sellers of airtime are now allowing a free-for-all where more than a dozen agencies compete for time slots on behalf of the same clients and paid programs. It’s enough to conjure up the ghost of Susan Powter to scream, “Stop the insanity!” But, you may wonder: Why would sellers of infomercial avails do this? They do it because it creates manufactured competition for their 62

electronicRETAILER | June 2011

Electronic Retailer - June 2011

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